FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 30, 2026
Berkeley, CA — In response to ongoing violence, deaths, and repression caused by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) issued the following statement:
GAIA stands in solidarity with the people of Minneapolis and with communities across the country that are resisting these violent occupations and repressive tactics. What we are witnessing is not public safety, it is state violence. The people of Minneapolis and other communities are standing up to protect their neighbors, resisting repression, and protesting against this authoritarian federal government.
The right to speak out and protest is fundamental to a functioning democracy and a critical tool for communities defending their safety, health, land, and futures. GAIA and our members rely on this right every day to challenge environmental injustice, corporate impunity, and policies that sacrifice frontline communities while undermining the right to a clean and healthy environment for all. The current U.S. administration is deploying federal agencies implementing militarized enforcement tactics to suppress both protest and community-led resistance, intimidate and criminalize those documenting abuses, and silence those who speak out against injustice.
Since the start of this year, at least nine deaths have been reported in connection with ICE custody or enforcement actions. We mourn the deaths of Keith Porter, Geraldo Lunas Campos, Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres, Luis Beltran Yanez–Cruz, Victor Manuel Diaz, Parady La, Heber Sanchez Dominguez, Renee Nicole Good, and Alex Pretti, whose killings reveal a pattern of escalating state violence, systemic failures, and blatant disregard for human life.
We are seeing in real time the lawlessness of this agency, exemplified in the mounting reports of abuse and neglect of detainees, which include children. This is the same administration that rolled back the Flores protections and continues to challenge legal safeguards for detained minors, allowing ICE to hold children in unsafe and inhumane conditions for longer periods.
GAIA demands immediate accountability from DHS, ICE, and CBP for all deaths, abuses, and violations committed under their authority. We call for an end to violent enforcement practices, the protection of the right to protest, and policies rooted in care, dignity, and community power.
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The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) is a member-based, environmental justice network working at the intersection of waste, climate, and justice. In the United States and Canada, GAIA supports grassroots organizations that advance zero waste solutions, challenge the plastics and petrochemical industries, reduce methane emissions, and promote safe, sustainable practices for electric vehicle battery production and recycling.
Press contacts:
María Guillén, Communications & Network Development Manager
